‘Spider-Man’ on Broadway: Are Bloggers Breaking With Tradition?

Bloggers and other cyber-critics were busy at the first preview of “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” on Sunday night, critiquing the show’s storyline, pacing, score and visual elements long before the musical’s opening, set for Jan. 11, 2011. When it comes to “Spider-Man” and other high-profile productions, early previews are fair game for armchair critics.

A long-held Broadway tradition–that shows don’t get reviewed until they officially open after several weeks of previews–is increasingly under fire. Though most mainstream news organizations still hold reviews until after opening night, many bloggers aren’t overly concerned with that cone of critical silence and chatter online long before then.

“Spider-Man,” a more than $60 million show directed by Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”) with a score by U2’s Bono and The Edge, has been closely watched for months. At the first preview, some audience members dove in with unofficial reviews typed into their cell phones even before intermission.

The impulse to review first, wait for opening night later, comes as preview ticket prices soar. When a seat at a major musical preview can cost upwards of $250, a little early criticism seems only fair to some theatergoers–especially if they feel they’re watching a work in progress.

Producer Bob Boyett says early critics can be fickle. At first, bloggers skewered his new fall musical, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” when the first preview was postponed so the show could work out technical issues. Eventually, he says, the blog posts turned positive. “You can’t predict that stuff with those early-bird people,” he says.

“Spider-Man” producers might take heart from Boyett’s experience. Most of the early reviews were rough, describing a first preview marked by several technical delays.

Sherry Lawrence, a staff writer for a U2 fan site, atU2.com, posted what the site called a “recap/review” online after the show. Though she had praise for the score and performer Patrick Page, who plays the Green Goblin, she criticized the storyline as weak and slow moving, with an over-emphasis on a mythological back story.

In an interview, Lawrence says she wouldn’t call her commentary a typical review. Instead, she was trying to call attention to problems that could be addressed before opening night—it was more advice from a U2 fan than traditional arts criticism, she says. “I wanted to point out things that could be fixed,” she says. “Quite frankly, we would like to see this thing succeed because we don’t want to know what the backlash will be on Bono and Edge if it doesn’t.”

Another U2 fan, Thomas Harbinson, posted his thoughts online after nabbing a ticket to the first preview. “Welcome to the world of social media where everybody is a critic,” he said in an interview. Harbinson says bloggers will have only more to say as previews continue: “I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see someone who has recorded the show on a Flip cam and uploaded it onto YouTube by the end of the week,” he says.

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